Last modified date : 2025-04-30
This covers the installation of SDL3 on a Unix system based on Debian (with apt).
Contribute to cover more systems.
Below explanations are if you plan to build the whole library from sources of the official Github repository.
From the global SDL organization on Github, download the zip of these packages :
| Package name | version | repository URL | description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | 3.0 | https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL | Core required package |
| SDL_image | 3.0 | https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL_image | Used for images and textures |
| SDL_ttf | 3.0 | https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL_ttf | Used for text and fonts managment |
| SDL_mixer | 3.0 | https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL_mixer | Used for audio |
| SDL_net | 2.0 | https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL_net | Used for networking |
The process for each package will be the same.
However, some will require other packages, otherwise it won't build.
Packages that have dependencies :
| Package name | dependency | guide for installation |
|---|---|---|
| SDL_ttf | freetype | go to chapter |
# assuming you are in ~/Download folder, with all SDL*.zip in it
# 1. setup
mkdir SDL3_setup && cd SDL3_setup
mv ../SDL*.zip .
mkdir build
# Repeat step 2 and 3 for each packages you want to install
# 2. prepare for the desired package
unzip SDL-main.zip
# optional step
rm -rf ./build/* # clean folder for next installation
# 3. build and install
cd build
cmake ../SDL-<package-name>/CMakeLists.txt -B .
make
sudo make installGo on the official download page and click on the sourceforge link.
Download the tar.xz file.
Extract with tar -xf freetype-<version>.tar.xz, replacing <version> by the version you have, then move inside the extracted folder.
You can find documentation for the installation depending your system, in the
doc/folder.
Then build the package :
sh autogen.sh
./configure # this will install in /usr/local. See --help for moving target
make
sudo make install#include <iostream>
#include <SDL3/SDL.h>
int main(int argc, char **argv) {
if(SDL_Init(SDL_InitFlags::SDL_INIT_VIDEO) < 0) {
std::cerr << "Init error : " << SDL_GetError() << std::endl;
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
auto window = SDL_CreateWindowWithPosition(
"MCE",
SDL_WINDOWPOS_CENTERED, SDL_WINDOWPOS_CENTERED,
720, 405,
SDL_WindowFlags::SDL_WINDOW_OPENGL
);
if(!window) {
std::cerr << "Window creation error : " << SDL_GetError() << std::endl;
SDL_Quit();
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
bool isRunning = true;
while(isRunning) {
// render here
// input
SDL_Event event;
while(SDL_PollEvent(&event)) {
switch(event.type) {
case SDL_EventType::SDL_EVENT_QUIT:
isRunning = false;
break;
}
}
}
SDL_Quit();
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
@zapposh As I see, of today, SDL3 is not officially released yet, thus the
libsdl3-devpackage is not available for now, even if theGithub releases show that there're already SDL3 releases that are made since some months.
We'll need to wait a bit longer to use a package manager tho, and manually build from sources.
When SDL3 will be officially released, the mentionned package will exist.
I apologize, I read too quickly some infos, and didn't even tried the command I showed above (apt-get install).